Toy airplane



7 Dec. 15, 1970 L KUPPERMAN ETAL 3,546,811

roar AIRPLANE Filed Jan. 6, 1969 INVENTORS F16 3 DENNIS l. KUPPERMAN 6SAM KUPPERMAN ATTORNEY United States Patent 9 3,546,811 TOY AIRPLANEDennis I. Kupperman, Des Plaines, and Sam Kupperman, Chicago, Ill. (bothof 4139 Main St., Skokie, Ill. 60076) Filed Jan. 6, 1969, Ser. No.789,301 Int. Cl. A6311 27/04 US. Cl. 46-243 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A hand held toy airplane which includes a handle for holdingsame while the toy is being operated, a rotatable arm which supports atone end thereof a flying toy, such as a simulated airplane, and supportsat its opposite end a power unit comprising a motor, a battery, and apropeller operated by the motor, whereby when the motor is operating thepropeller causes the power unit, the arm and the simulated toy airplaneto rotate with respect to the handle, and by manually manipulating thehandle through various angles the airplane is caused to fly throughvarious flying patterns.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of this invention isto provide a toy airplane which is highly portable and may be readilycarried around while it is operating, and which includes a handle bywhich the toy is held in the hand, and which is manipulated throughvarious angles to cause the toy airplane to fly through various flyingpatterns.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toy forming this invention andshowing the angle by which the toy is held to cause the toy airplane tofly in a substantially horizontal plane.

FIG. '2 is a top plan view of the toy with a portion shown in section.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the arm and the means forsupporting the arm.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the manner in which theairplane is supported by the arm.

The toy device is of very simple structure and includes a handlegenerally indicated at 10 which is adapted to be held in the hand andwhich is normally held at an inclined angle, as shown in FIG. 1. For thepurpose of packaging, the handle 10 is made in two rod sections 12 and14, which sections are held together by a sleeve 15 so that the handlemay be disassembled to reduce its overall length.

Secured to the upper end of the upper rod section 14 of the handle is aconnector member generally indicated at 16, molded preferably of aplastic material, which includes a sleeve portion generally indicated at18 and an extension generally indicated at 20. The sleeve is molded toform spaced concave side sections 22 on one side with a split concaveopposite side section 24 positioned intermediate the side sections 22 toform the split sleeve 18 which frictionally engages the rod section 14to detachably secure same to said connector. The sleeve has an end wall26 against which the rod 14 abuts. The extension is molded integrallywith the sleeve 18 and comprises a portion 28 which extends forwardly ofthe axis of the sleeve and a portion 30 which extends upwardly at aninclined angle of approximately 120 with respect to the axis of thesleeve. This construction is best shown 3,546,811 Patented Dec. 15, 1970ice in FIG. 3. The angle of the portion 30 relative to the portion 28allows the airplane to fly its various patterns when the handle 10 istwisted or manipulated by the hand of the operator. Without this angledrelationship there would be no varying of the flight pattern to theextent now possible with this construction.

Extending upwardly of the upper portion 30 of the extension 20 is areduced annular stem 32 providing a shoulder 34. The stem has an annularrecess 36. An arm generally designated by the numeral 38 comprising twosections 40 and 42 is rotatably supported on the annular stem 32 of theextension. A washer 44 is positioned to rest on the shoulder 34. Thesection 40 of the arm has an opening which is received on the annularstem 32. A split washer 46 is snapped into the recess 36 of the stem 32to secure the arm 38 to the extension 20 but permits rotation of thearm. The inner end of the arm section 40 has a sleeve portion 48 intowhich the inner end of the arm section 42 is inserted to frictionallysecure the arm sections 40 and 42 together to form a single arm, butwhich may be detached from each other for the purpose of reducing theoverall length of the arm for packaging purposes. The arm 38 is adaptedto rotate about the stem 32 of the connector, as will be subsequentlydescribed.

Aflixed to the outer end of arm section 40 is a power unit generallyindicated at 50 which includes a housing 51 formed of plastic whichcontains and supports therewithin a small dry cell battery 52 and asmall battery operated motor 54. The motor shaft 55 has secured to it apropeller 56. The front of the housing has a protective grill 57 toprevent the hand from engaging the spinning propeller. The motor andbattery are connected by suitable conductors 58, with a switch 60 foropening and closing the circuit.

The arm section 42 supports at its outer end a simulated or toy airplanegenerally indicated at 62, which may be of any design, preferablysimulating a jet airplane. The toy airplane 62 is provided at the topthereof with a pair of spaced ears 63 having openings 64 which receivethe opposite ends 65 of a wire spring clip generally indicated at 66.The clip is shaped, as shown in FIG. 4, to provide a raised portion 67and a further raised central socket portion 68 which receives the outerend of the arm section 42 secured thereto. The top of the airplane isthus positioned below the arm section 42 so as not to interfere with thepivotal movement of the airplane as it pivots relative to the armsection 42. While the clip 66 is held fixed relative to the arm section42, the pivoting of the airplane will be through the ears 63 and theends 65 of the clip 66.

The power unit 50 is heavier than the simulated airplane and thereforeto counterbalance same the power unit is positioned closer to the axisstem 32 than is the toy airplane 62. By this arrangement the arm iscounterbalanced so that even while the toy is not in operation it willbe supported in a generally horizontal plane.

The toy can be packaged in a relatively small box by disassembling thetwo arm sections 40 and 42 so that the overall length of the longestsection determines one dimension of the box. The same would be true ofthe handle rod sections 12 and 14 which are disassembled. Therefore, theunit may be readily packed in a compact manner in a box of a reducedsize and may be readily assembled by merely connecting the arm sections40 and 42, as shown, and by also connecting the rod sections 12 and 14forming the handle.

The operation of the toy airplane will be understood from the foregoing,but briefly described is as follows. The child will hold the handle 10and when the switch 60 is closed the motor 54 will rotate the propeller56 to draw air into the housing of the power unit which is expelledthrough the rear opening 59 of the housing, as indicated by the arrowsin FIG. 2, which causes the arm 38 to rotate about the stem 32 as theaxis, and thereby simultaneously rotate the power unit 50 and theairplane 62 supported on the opposite end of the arm. By twisting and/orpositioning the handle to various degrees, the arm 38 may be rotatedthrough difierent planes and angles, with the airplane 62 caused topivot relative to the arm. This produces various types of flyingperformances and permits the child to control the angles of flightthrough various manipulative movements of the handle 10. The angle ofthe portion 30 relative to the portion 28 of the extension is animportant factor in this respect. There is thus provided a toy havinggreat play value for the child as the flight patterns of the airplanecan be controlled as it continues to rotate about the stem 32 as theaxis.

The toy airplane is so constructed that it can be carried from indoorsto the outdoors and has all the advantages of a toy which is hand-heldas contrasted to toys which are supported on stationary pylons or thelike.

What is claimed is:

1. A hand supported toy comprising a handle adapted to be manuallyengaged by a persons hand for supporting the toy, an arm secured to saidhandle for rotation about said handle, said arm supporting a toy figureadjacent one end thereof and supporting adjacent the opposite endthereof a power unit comprising a motor and a battery for operating saidmotor, a propeller forming part of said unit and connected to andoperated by said motor so that rotation of said propeller will cause thearm to rotate about said handle.

2. A toy as defined in claim 1 in which the arm is supported at angle ofapproximately 120 with respect to the handle.

3. A toy as defined in claim 1 in which the power unit includes ahousing for the battery and motor and has a switch for opening andclosing the circuit between the battery and the motor.

4. A toy as defined in claim 2 in which the toy figure is a simulatedairplane, and in which the arm is supported in off-center position withrespect to the handle so that the arm is counterbalanced.

5. A toy as defined in claim 1 in which the toy figure is a simulatedairplane and in which the arm is secured 4 to the handle in anoff-center position so that the weight on one end of the arm will bebalanced relative to the weight at the opposite end of the arm so thatthe arm is maintained in a substantially balanced state with respect tothe handle. I

6. A toy as defined in claim 1 in which the toy figure is a simulatedairplane and in which a connector member is secured to the upper end ofthe handle, said connector member having a sleeve portion at one endwhich engages the upper end of the handle and having an extensionextending upwardly of the sleeve portion which has a portion positionedat an inclined angle relative to the sleeve, with the arm rotatablysecured to the extension.

7. A toy as defined in claim 6 in which the extension is at an angle ofapproximately with respect to the sleeve portion.

8. A toy as defined in claim 6 in which the arm is formed of a pair ofsections which are detachably connected and in which the handle isformed of a pair of sections detachably connected.

9. A toy as defined'in claim 1 in which the toy figure is a simulatedairplane which is pivotally secured to the arm so that it may pivotrelative to said arm.

10. A toy as defined in claim 6 in which the connector member is moldedof plastic material and in which the extension of the connector is at aninclined angle of approximately 120 relative to the sleeve, and in whichthe sleeve is split to permit it to give to provide a frictional fitwith the upper end of the handle.

References Cited Hennik 272-3 1X LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner D.L. WEIN HOLD, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 4647, 77; 27'231

